How ATT helped UFC on ESPN+ 2's Renato Moicano grow as an athlete and human being

FORTALEZA, Brazil – Shortly after Brian Ortega handed him his first career loss, Renato Moicano packed his bags and left his native Brasilia, Brazil, to begin training at the famed Florida-based American Top Team.

Now, about 16 months and two wins later, Moicano (13-1-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) is faced with the biggest fight of his career. On Saturday, at UFC on ESPN+ 2, he meets former UFC champion Jose Aldo (27-4 MMA, 9-3 UFC) in a featherweight co-headliner that could reasonably make him the next challenger to divisional champ Max Holloway.

All in all, it’s not a bad spot to be. And Moicano says the change in environment to ATT was, in more ways than one, a big part of getting him here.

First off, there’s the professional aspect. As Moicano has said before, it was there that he learned to appreciate the value of allowing his body to recover and rest, as opposed to his previous routine of sometimes training for five or six hours in a single day.

“ATT is a tremendous team, very professional,” Moicano told MMAjunkie on Wednesday ahead on UFC on ESPN+ 2. “And, there, I learned about resting more, training less – not training harder, training smarter, they say. And, if you train hard, hard, hard, at some point your body will break, so you have to train smart. And I’m getting older, so I have to make some adjustments in my training.”

Other than the changes to his activity in the gym, though, Moicano says he’s also benefited from the change on a personal level.

“I kind of moved to Florida, me and my wife only, so it’s – I’m growing (as a) human being, too,” Moicano said. “Because it’s not only about professional, it’s about life, too. So now I know myself better. We’re living together, without family, so I don’t have all the things I want.

“Sometimes I want to see my grandmother, sometimes I want to see my mother, my father, and I don’t have (that). But I think ‘This is OK, this is life, and this is (helping me grow).’ And this has made me a better fighter, too, because you learn to control your emotions and separate the professional and personal life.”

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As far as controlling emotions goes, Moicano seems to be doing just fine. Despite being faced with a co-main event in his home country, against a fellow countryman and former champion to whom he’s long looked up to, the 29-year-old isn’t at all worried about letting any of the outside noise make its way into his head on fight night.

“In the beginning, when they say, ‘Oh, you will fight against Aldo,’ I felt a little excited, you know?” Moicano asked. “Ready to go. But think, ‘He’s a legend, this is my biggest opponent.’ But now, in the fight week, I don’t think in this anymore because it’s too close and we have to focus and, to me, it’s just another fight.”

UFC on ESPN+ 2 takes place at Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste in Fortaleza, Brazil. The entire card streams on ESPN+.

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Moicano, who comes off a big first-round submission win over Cub Swanson at UFC 227 in August, has repeatedly talked about how respectful he is of Aldo and his skills. Despite Aldo’s recent losses to champ Holloway, Moicano still sees a “tremendous” athlete in front of him and makes it clear that he’s not letting his focus wander from the task at hand.

Moicano does believe, though, that he brings a major tool to the key 145-pound clash: his will. And should that prevail on Saturday, he believes a big reward might be on the horizon.

“Everybody knows Aldo is a legend, he’s a former champion, so a win over him, I think, they can’t avoid the title shot,” Moicano said. “But we never know, because I don’t know what Max will do now. They don’t know if he’ll go up to the lightweight, or he’s staying in the featherweight. Let’s see what the UFC has for me. But what I’m thinking about is only Saturday, Feb. 2, beat a legend.”